This ministry was given by Brother Stephen Kong in Richmond, Virginia, on Monday evening, September 11, 1972.
“He gave the power to become the sons of God.” Amen. Life is light. Amen.
May we look to the Lord.
Lord, as we draw near to Thy presence, we do claim the cleansing of the precious blood, without which no one can approach the throne of grace. Lord, how we pray and thank Thee for the availability of Thy precious blood, that we may come on that ground and with boldness.
Lord, we do believe that, as we gather together unto Thy name, unto Thyself, and put ourselves under Thy authority, Thou art in our midst. Lord, take charge over this gathering. Fill this place with Thy presence. Speak to us through Thy Word, by Thy Spirit, that we may not hear any human words and sounds.
But, Lord, we want to see Thee. We want to hear Thee. We want to touch Him. Lord, touch us tonight, and we will behold.
We do commit ourselves to Thee, looking to Thee for Thy blessing, that Thou mayest receive all the praise and the glory and the honor. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
I would like to read just two passages as sample verses. The first is found in the Gospel according to John, Chapter 2, verses 1 through 11.
And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
and Jesus also was bidden, and His disciples, to the marriage.
And when the wine failed, the mother of Jesus saith unto Him, They have no wine.
And Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come.
His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.
Now there were six waterpots of stone set there according to the Jews’ manner of purifying, containing two or three firkins apiece.
Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.
And He saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the ruler of the feast. And they bare it.
And when the ruler of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and knew not whence it was, but the servants that had drawn the water knew, the ruler of the feast calleth the bridegroom,
and saith unto him, Every man setteth on first the good wine; and when men have drunk freely, then that which is worse: thou hast kept the good wine until now.
This beginning of His signs did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed on Him.
Then we turn to John 20:30-31.
Many other signs therefore did Jesus in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book:
but these are written, that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye may have life in His name.
Dear brothers and sisters, we have been fellowshipping together for the last two sessions on the Gospel according to John. First, we fellowshipped somewhat on the life of John the evangelist—how he came to the Lord with the one desire to be with the Lord.
When the Lord asked him, “What do you want?” his answer was, “Where do You live?” John desired to dwell with the Lord. Because of his dwelling with the Lord, we find how the Lord transformed this natural son of thunder into the voice of God.
Because of that, God was able to use this man to present to us the last of the four Gospels. In a sense, this is the consummation of all the Gospels, because here we find our Lord Jesus presented to us as the Son of God; and in believing in Him, we receive eternal life.
This morning we fellowshipped a little on the nature and character of the Gospel according to John. We find that John presents Christ as the Son of God. What do we mean? What does Scripture mean by “the Son of God”?
It means, in a very special way, that He is the revelation of the Father. No one has ever seen God; but He who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
Now, in order to declare the Father in all His fullness, first of all, He has to have everything that is in the Father. That is why you find in the Gospel of John that it is mentioned again and again: “The Father loves Me, and He has given everything to Me.” All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in the Son.
Secondly, the Son has to empty Himself in order that He may be a full expression of the Father. “I can do nothing of Myself. I do because the Father is doing it. I say because the Father is saying it.”
So, dear brothers and sisters, we find in our Lord Jesus, the Son of God, the One who brings the Father to us. He is full of grace and truth. God is love; therefore, He comes to us in grace. God is light; therefore, He comes to us in truth.
But neither grace nor truth is something apart from Christ, because Christ is the grace of God. He is the truth of God. As we receive His life into us, we find that His life in us is the life of the Son of God, full of grace and truth.
The very nature of His life in us is love and light. That is what you find in the First Epistle of John. Being those who have a life which is love and light, we ought to live on this earth expressing the grace and the truth of the Lord.
He is the Son of God, but by His death and resurrection He is to bring many sons into glory. This is the nature and character of the Gospel according to John.
Tonight, we will go over the whole Gospel once again, but from a little different angle. As you read the Gospel according to John, you will find that there is a word used by John in a very special way, and that word is signs.
There are different Greek words that have more or less the same meaning. Some render them “miracles,” “powers,” “signs,” or “wonders.” These are various words, but John seems to have a special delight in using the word sign.
In the other Gospels, you may find the word wonders. You may find the word miracles or a word of power. The Lord is doing something that is wonderful, miraculous, and powerful. But John, instead of using the word miracle, power, wonder, or mighty deed, uses the word sign.
Now why? Because a sign has a meaning which is deeper than a miracle or an act of power. The Lord Jesus does a miracle. The Lord Jesus performs a wonder. The Lord Jesus does an act of power. But, dear brothers and sisters, John is not satisfied simply by telling us what wonders, powers, and deeds our Lord Jesus has done.
He wants us to get behind these wonders, behind these miracles, behind these powers and deeds, and to get into something more basic, more fundamental, and, we may say, more ultimate.
Whenever you touch John’s writings, you find that he always leads us back to the very source, to the ultimate. He will not be satisfied with anything less than the final. For this reason, he does not use the words wonders, miracles, or powers. Instead, he uses the word sign.
What do you mean by a sign? A sign is something that is done, but that something is not an end in itself. It is a means to an end. A sign is a pointer; it points us to something else—or, may I say, to Someone.
John does not want us to be wholly occupied with these acts of wonder, these miracles, and these powers, however attractive they are. John wants us to get behind them. By these signs, we are being pointed and directed to something else—to Someone.
It is just like when you are climbing a mountain. As you come to different levels of the mountain, there will be signs there. Suppose there is a sign at a certain elevation. It tells you that you are now one thousand feet above sea level, and probably the sign also points you in the direction by which you can climb to the top of the mountain.
Usually, when you see such a sign, you will stop for a while. You will look around, and probably there will be good scenery there. Or perhaps the sign itself is made of beautiful wood and is something to be admired.
But, dear brothers and sisters, as you see these signs while climbing the mountain, you may enjoy them for a while, but you are not supposed to stay there. You are to be directed by the signs and go higher and higher until you reach the peak. That is the end.
There you can see a panoramic view of the whole mountain region—how gorgeous and how great it is.
All the wonders, all the miracles, all the works of power, all the deeds of our Lord Jesus—these are signs. They are marvelous in themselves. When you see these wonders, miracles, and powers, you cannot help but stop for a while, consider them, admire them, and praise the Lord for them.
There is something beautiful in connection with all these signs. We worship the Lord because of all the wonders and miracles that He has performed. But if you stay there, if you stay with these miracles, if all you see are miracles, wonders, and powers—and nothing else—you miss the point.
How many of God’s people today are wonder-oriented? How many of God’s people are praising the Lord for all the works of power, wonder, and miracles done by the Lord? Thank God for every wonder, every miracle, every power, every deed. We do appreciate, admire, praise, and worship.
But these are signs. Do not stop with them. You have to be directed by these signs to something higher—to Someone who is the highest.
So, brothers and sisters, all the signs recorded in the Gospel according to John are pointers. They are not the end. They do not want us to surround them and stay with them our whole life. They want us to climb higher until we see that One.
In other words, we see the glory of the Son of God. As we see the glory of the Son of God and believe in Him, we receive eternal life. That is the Gospel according to John.
In the Gospel according to John, you find eight signs recorded. From the first chapter down to the last chapter, you find altogether eight signs—eight wonders, eight miracles, eight acts of power. But these eight occasions are all signs. They are there to direct our attention to the Son of God, to witness His glory, and to believe in Him.
Tonight, we would like to travel through this book by these signs. We hope that, as we travel by these signs, we may see the glory of the Son of God. That is our purpose.
The first sign was performed in Cana of Galilee. There was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was invited. Jesus and His disciples were also invited. Evidently, this young couple, or their family, seemed to be very close to the family of our Lord Jesus.
It was a happy time. Marriage is one of the greatest things in life. We may almost say that marriage is the climax of life. People grow and mature, and after two persons have matured, they come to that point where they are joined into one.
When two are joined into one, the original design of God is accomplished. In the beginning, God created man: “Male and female created He them.” The original concept of God is not an individual. In the original thought of God, man is the union of a man and a woman.
That is consummated by marriage. Even in the Garden of Eden, God made a woman out of man and brought that woman to the man. The man said, “This is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.” Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and be united with his wife.
In a sense, marriage is the consummation of the growth of life. Here you find two people growing until finally it is consummated in marriage. With a helpmeet, the man is able to fulfill the purpose of God.
But unfortunately, in the Garden of Eden, instead of God’s purpose and commission being fulfilled through this marriage union, sin came into the world. Spiritually speaking, the marriage was broken.
Here, brothers and sisters, you find that the first sign our Lord Jesus did was done during a marriage feast, because this describes the highest point of human life. It was the happiest moment of life, almost like the consummation of human maturity.
It was supposed to be that, after this marriage, God’s purpose might be done through the partnership of a man and a woman. But, as in the Garden of Eden, here in Cana this marriage began with joy and happiness, but as the days went on, the wine failed.
According to the Jewish custom of that time, at a marriage all the relatives and friends would come. They would be there not just for the ceremony or for one feast, but for three days and sometimes seven days.
I remember when my eldest brother was married. It was still in the old-fashioned Chinese way. All our relatives and friends came and stayed with us, and we had a feast for three days and three nights.
It was a most happy time. There were so many people, and evidently this young couple was very popular. Finally, there were more people attending that marriage than they had expected. Before the days had run out, their wine was exhausted.
In the Orient, during a marriage feast, if the wine ran out, it was really a calamity. All the joy and happiness of the marriage would be turned into disaster. What disgrace! What shame it would bring to the young married couple! It would be a very bad beginning for their life together.
It was most embarrassing. You could not send the guests away, and there was no more wine. You were supposed to provide enough and more than enough. They were in a most embarrassing situation, and if it was not rescued, it would end in tragedy.
Dear brothers and sisters, is it not true that, at the height of our happiness, sorrow usually comes?
In China, we have a proverb which says that, when your joy reaches the height, sorrow strikes. We have another proverb saying that the moon is not always full. After you have a full moon, it begins to wane.
Joy, happiness, and satisfaction in this world and in this life are never perfect or complete. Usually, at the very height of happiness, there comes sorrow, pain, and disaster. That is human life.
What can give more joy than a marriage? What can give more satisfaction than joy? This is represented by the wine, because wine makes the heart of man glad, as we find in Psalm 104. But here you find that the wine always fails.
Our life on this earth is like this. It is never complete. It changes so quickly and drastically. Just at the moment of elation, there comes the moment of humiliation. That is always the case.
But here you find our Lord Jesus, and there He turned the water into wine. There were six stone vessels standing at the door. These six stone vessels were for water of purification.
The Jews were very careful about purification. When the guests came, the first thing that had to be done was that they had to have their feet washed. If they did not have their feet washed, they were not clean, and they could not enjoy the feast.
The water in the six water vessels had been used up because there were so many guests. They had come and had this ceremonial washing. As a result, there were six stone vessels there, but even the water was almost gone. It had all been used up in purification.
So the Lord said, “Draw water and fill them up to the brim.” The servants drew water and filled the six water vessels. Then the Lord said, “Draw out now, and take it to the ruler of the feast.”
The ruler of the feast tasted it and said, “There is never such wine as good as this.” He called the bridegroom and said, “Everybody puts on the good wine first, and when they have well drunk, they cannot distinguish the inferior wine. But you are different. You have reserved the best wine until last.”
There the Lord manifested His glory, and His disciples believed on Him.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, what is the meaning of this sign? The six stone vessels represent us. We are like the six stone vessels, because six in Scripture is the number of man.
We may be very religious. We may be filled with water—that is, our natural life. Our natural life is like water: flat and tasteless. Probably, in our natural life, we have an inclination and tendency to be religious. Our natural life seems to help us go through purification ceremonies.
Outwardly, we may appear very religious. Outwardly, we may appear clean. But, dear brothers and sisters, that is all that we are. The best you can find in man’s life is to be outwardly religious.
It cannot satisfy us. It cannot give us permanent joy and peace. Sooner or later, you discover that your life is empty, tasteless, and stale. Even though you may be correct, religious, and moral, there is no taste, no joy, and no satisfaction with it. Everything about you is just passing; nothing is lasting.
Oh, brothers and sisters, our Lord Jesus is the only One who can transform your life. He can transform the water into wine.
To be exact, according to Scripture teaching, it is not that your natural life is changed into spiritual life. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
It is not that your natural life is changed. The Lord Jesus gives His life to us. The water poured into the stone vessels represents the life of the Lord Jesus being poured out to us. As this life is given to us, it is a new life, and this new life is new wine—a better wine.
The transformation is not in changing our natural life into spiritual life. The transformation is that the life of the Lord Jesus comes into us, takes hold of us, and then possesses our whole being. That is, He transforms our mind, our emotions, and our body.
The transformation comes because the new life has come into us. This life transforms our whole being. Formerly, our emotions expressed ourselves; but now, as transformation comes, our emotions are taken over by Christ and express Christ.
Formerly, our mind expressed ourselves: “It is my opinion. It is my thinking. It is my reasoning. I consider this reasonable.” But now we find that we have a mind, and it is Christ.
Formerly, it was my desire and my will. But now: “Not my will, but God’s will be done.” The transformation comes when the Lord takes control of our life.
The Lord came into the marriage feast and took control. His mother said to the servants, “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it.” In other words, our Lord came into that marriage and took control over the whole thing. When the Lord took control, transformation happened.
The result was that the wine was good—better than any wine, incomparable. There was such abundance. In all six stone vessels, containing two or three measures each, there were about one hundred gallons. Suddenly, one hundred gallons of new wine were there.
It was inexhaustible—not only for the feast, but even after the feast there was more left over. That is always the case with our Lord.
So, dear brothers and sisters, in this miracle of turning water into wine, the sign is pointing to the Lord Jesus, to the glory of the Son of God. What is the glory of the Son of God? The glory of the Son of God is that He is the One who transforms our life.
He turns our tragedy into glory. He deals with our emptiness with abundance. He takes away our flatness with the taste of new wine. He alone gives us satisfaction that lasts forever.
But more than that, the Lord is not only the One who transforms our life; He is our transformation. He does not only do the work of transformation. As we are transformed from glory to glory according to His image, our transformation is Christ.
He is not only the One who transforms; He is the transformation. As He transforms us from glory unto glory, we decrease and He increases in us. That is transformation—not merely that you have changed, but that you have decreased and He has increased.
Thank God, He not only did that in Cana of Galilee; He is doing that today in every one of us. This is the glory of the Son of God.
Often we cry, “Who can change me? Who can transform me?” Sometimes we are tired of ourselves. Sometimes we are so unhappy with ourselves. Who can change us? Nobody can. The only One who can is the Son of God.
As you are being transformed from glory to glory, you find a little more of Christ and a little less of yourself. What a glorious work He is doing! What glory it is, because the final product is Christ.
Now that is the first sign. Then you come to the second sign. The second sign is found in John 4.
Our Lord Jesus came back to Galilee, and once again He came to Cana, where He had performed the first sign. While He was in Cana, a nobleman came from Capernaum whose son was sick, almost dying.
He heard about the Lord Jesus, so he traveled from Capernaum to seek the Lord. He said, “Rabbi, Master, come quickly to my home, because my son is dying.”
You remember that our Lord Jesus said, “Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” But that father pleaded with the Lord, “Sir, come down ere my child die.” The Lord said, “Go thy way; thy son liveth.”
He believed the word of the Lord. As he was returning, he met his servants, who said that the fever was gone and that his son was well. So he asked at what hour his son had begun to recover, and they told him that it was at the seventh hour—the exact time when the Lord said, “Thy son liveth.”
So he and his whole household believed. That was the second sign.
This nobleman most likely was not an official of the Roman court. Most commentators agree that he probably belonged to the court of Herod the king.
Some commentators even go a little further and say that perhaps this nobleman was Chuza, Herod’s steward. You remember Luke 8, where Chuza, Herod’s steward, is mentioned. His wife Joanna was one of the women who ministered to the Lord and His disciples with material means.
Some people think that perhaps this nobleman was Chuza, Herod’s steward, a high official and a nobleman. But here you find that he came to the Lord, the Lord healed his son, and he and his whole family turned to the Lord.
What is the sign, then? The glory of the Son of God is revealed to us in this sign: He is the Life-giver, and He gives meaning to life.
What is life? In Buddhism, there is such a philosophy: What is life? Life is birth, sickness, old age, and death. That is life. You are born, you grow up, you grow old, you get sick, and finally you die. That is life.
But what is the meaning of our life? We are not like those who do not know the Lord. Those who do not know the Lord are just wasting away their life. There is no meaning to it and no purpose.
But thank God, one day the Lord said, “Thy son liveth.” We now live, and we have a purpose for living. Our purpose is that we may serve the purpose and the will of God in our generation, whatever it may be.
Again, you find the glory of the Son of God. He is the only One who can give us life with meaning. With Him there is life; without Him there is no life, no purpose, and no meaning.
Then the third sign was performed in Jerusalem, just outside the city, at the pool of Bethesda. This is found in John 5.
There was a pool at Bethesda with five porches, and all kinds of sick people were lying there. Why? Because they were waiting for the water to be stirred. When the water was stirred, the one who stepped in first would be healed.
All these sick people were waiting for the water to stir. I do not know how often it stirred—probably not too often. We will not go into the details. We only say this: there was a man who had been infirm for thirty-eight years.
He was there, hoping that he might be the first one to step in and be healed. But nobody was there to help him into the water, and he could not move himself. So he was lying there, hopeless.
We do not know how many years he had lain there, but when the Lord Jesus found him, he was a man who had already given up hope. The Lord said, “Wouldest thou be made whole?”
He replied, “Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.” It was just a hopeless case with him.
So the Lord said, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” He did so. He took up his bed and walked, and it was the Sabbath.
Now, brothers and sisters, when you see a man sick for thirty-eight years, immediately you think of another thirty-eight years. You remember the children of Israel. They wandered in the wilderness for thirty-eight years.
God delivered them out of Egypt. God brought them to Sinai. God gave them the law. They did not keep it, and because they did not keep the law, they were under the curse. For thirty-eight years, they wandered in the wilderness until they passed away.
This is the condition of man under the law. Once we were all under the law. Whether we received the Ten Commandments or not, the law of God is inscribed upon our conscience.
Under the law, no one can be justified. As at the pool there seemed to be a way, yet who could be made well?
Dear brothers and sisters, once we were under the law, under the curse of the law. We were helpless and hopeless. We almost gave up hope. But thank God, the Lord Jesus came and said, “Wouldest thou be made whole?”
We said, “No one can help us. I cannot help myself.” The Lord said, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.”
This man had been sick for thirty-eight years. Why? Most probably, his sickness was due to his sin. Not all sicknesses are due to sin; let us be careful about that. As you go on to John 9, you find another case which had nothing to do with sin. It was for the work of God.
But in this particular case, this man was sick because of sin. He was under the curse of the law. The wages of sin is death. There was no way out.
The Lord, who had the power and authority to judge, said, “The Father judgeth no man, but hath given all judgment unto the Son.” Yet He also said, “I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.”
Anyone who hears Him and believes in Him has passed out of judgment, out of death, into life.
How can the Lord deliver us out of the curse of the law? Not by overlooking our sin or by neglecting the law. He Himself came under the law, and He took upon Himself the curse. He was judged by God on the cross. Because He was judged in our stead, He can set us free.
Brothers and sisters, He gives us rest—Sabbath. Our Sabbath is Christ.
Again, you find the picture and the sign. It is not just a miracle performed. The miracle has a meaning. Through the miracle, we see the glory of the Son of God.
Who can justify us? Who can deliver us from the curse of the law? Who can clear us from the whole thing? Who can give us rest? None but the Son of God. In believing Him, we have passed out of judgment, out of death, into life and rest.
Again we say: our Lord Jesus is not only the Justifier; He is also our justification. He is not only the One who justifies us, but our justification itself is Christ.
We are justified because He died for us. He is our justification. If He is our justification, who can accuse us? That is the glory of the Son of God.
The fourth sign is the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Our Lord Jesus was there, and five thousand men, besides many women and children, were there.
The Lord looked at them and said to His disciples, “Give them to eat.” The disciples said, “What can we do? Even if we had two hundred denarii, it would not be enough to buy food for these people.”
Then Andrew, who always noticed small things, said, “There is a boy here who has five loaves and two fishes.” These five loaves were very small loaves, just enough for one meal for a boy, and the fishes were small fishes. “But what are these among so many?”
The Lord said, “Make the people sit down.” He took the five loaves and two fishes in His hands, lifted up His eyes, gave thanks, broke them, and the disciples distributed them. The five thousand were fed, and there were twelve baskets full left over.
All these Jews who were fed that day by the five loaves and fishes said, “Now You are the King. We want to make You King, and we will not be hungry anymore. The problem of food is now solved.”
The Lord had to send them away. He sent the disciples away too, because His disciples agreed with the multitude.
The next morning, the people tried to find the Lord. When they found Him, the Lord said, “Ye seek Me, not because ye saw signs, but because ye ate of the loaves, and were filled. Work not for the food which perisheth, but for the food which abideth unto eternal life.”
He said, “It was not Moses who gave you the manna in the wilderness; it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.” Then He said, “I am the bread of life.”
“He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth Me, he also shall live because of Me.”
Brothers and sisters, what is this? Our Lord Jesus, the Son of God, has not only given us a new life; He is the Sustainer, the Supplier, and the Nourisher of our life. He is the bread of heaven. We live because of Him.
Remember this: we who have received Him have His life in us. This life that has been given to us is not meant just to be there and starve.
For this life to grow, we need continually to feed upon the Lord Jesus. It is not enough that you believed in the Lord once. Yes, when you believe in the Lord once, you have life. But for this life to grow, you need to feed upon the Lord daily.
As you feed upon the Lord, you find that He is your strength. He gives you the strength and nourishment that you may walk through the wilderness. The world today is a wilderness. How can we go through this world without fainting? By feeding upon the Lord day by day.
He is the bread of life. He not only gives us bread; He is the bread. The glory of the Son of God is that His life in us is meant to be lived.
Just as Paul said, “Not I, but Christ liveth in me.” The Lord says, “You live because of Me.” We no longer live because of our natural life. Now we live by this new life that is given to us.
Daily, as we commune with the Lord, as we abide in Him and He abides in us, this new life is strengthened for the wilderness journey. This is the fourth sign, manifesting the glory of the Son.
Then the fifth sign is in John 9. Here you find the Lord and His disciples coming out from the temple. As they passed by, they saw a beggar there. This beggar was born blind.
The disciples seemed to be natural theologians, because when they saw this man born blind, they entered into theological speculation: “Lord, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?”
If his parents sinned, perhaps the hand of the Lord was heavy upon the second generation, and therefore the son suffered for the sins of the parents. If it was not his parents, then how did he sin? He was born blind. He must have sinned in the womb. It was theological speculation.
Many theological questions are mere speculations. But our Lord was not interested in such things. He said, “Neither did this man sin, nor his parents.”
That does not mean that this man had never sinned or that his parents had no sin. No, it means that this particular instance of blindness was not specifically due to his parents’ sin or to his own sin. It was for the glory of God. God was going to do something: to open the eyes of the blind.
The Lord did a creative work. He spat on the ground, made clay of the spittle, put it on the blind eyes of the man, and sent him to Siloam, which means “Sent.” As he went and washed, he received sight.
This man’s eyes were defective from his mother’s womb. His eyes could not see. Here you find the Lord doing a creative work. He used the clay mixed with spittle, and the man went to Siloam, sent by the One sent by God. The result was that sight was given to the blind.
The Lord Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
The Pharisees put this man through a real trial because it was the Sabbath when the Lord performed this sign. They told the man, “We know not whence this man is. He is a sinner. Give glory to God.”
The blind man said, “Whether He is a sinner, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.”
He also said, “We know that God heareth not sinners. Since the world began it was never heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.”
When they pressed him further, he said, “Would ye also become His disciples?” In other words, he was already a disciple of the Lord. They drove him out of the synagogue and excommunicated him.
When the Lord heard that, He found him. The Lord said, “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” He said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe on Him?” The Lord said, “Thou hast both seen Him, and He it is that speaketh with thee.” He bowed down and worshipped Him.
You know, continuing from there is John 10. In the original manuscripts, there is no chapter division. You have to combine them together. The Lord began to speak of the sheep, the Shepherd, and the flock.
Here was one man driven out of the fold of Judaism, but the Lord, who was the Shepherd, was taking him into His flock. One Shepherd, one flock. Driven out and cast out by men, but received by the Lord.
He is now sharing his inheritance with the saints in light. The Lord says, “He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness.”
Dear brothers and sisters, we were naturally blind. We could not see spiritual things. We could not see God. We could not see God’s purpose. We were blind. But our Lord Jesus has opened our eyes and made us see.
Because we see, we walk in the light. The Lord said, “I am the light of the world.”
Brothers and sisters, the Lord has not only opened our blind eyes that we may see; the Lord Jesus is the light of life. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
If we walk by the light of life, we walk in the light. If we walk in the light, as God is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin.
This is the fifth sign: the glory of the Son of God.
Of course, the sixth sign is the raising of Lazarus. Lazarus was dead.
When Martha and Mary sent a message to our Lord Jesus, our Lord was on the east side of Jordan because of the opposition of the Jews. He had retreated to the east side of Jordan. Martha and Mary sent messengers across the river to our Lord Jesus and said, “Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick.”
If you calculate the time, when the message arrived at the place where the Lord Jesus was, Lazarus was already dead. The Lord stayed two more days where He was. He did not cross the river until the fourth day, and when He arrived, Lazarus had been in the tomb four days.
Martha came out and said, “Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. And even now I know that, whatsoever Thou shalt ask of God, God will give Thee.”
The Lord said, “Thy brother shall rise again.” Martha said, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” But the Lord said to her, “I am the resurrection, and the life.”
“He that believeth on Me, though he die, yet shall he live.” Then the Lord raised Lazarus.
What is this? This tells us of the glory of the Son of God, who is able to raise the dead and give us resurrection life. Nobody can do that. The Lord alone can do it.
He not only raised Lazarus, but He is the resurrection. That is His glory, and no one can take that glory.
The seventh sign is in John 20: the resurrection of our Lord Himself. The resurrection of our Lord Himself is a greater miracle.
The Lord entered into the tomb. He was buried there. But He came out. He declared that He is the Son of God, who has overcome. By His death, He destroyed him who had the power of death—that is, the devil.
After He had accomplished the work of God, He was raised from the dead. By His resurrection, He demonstrated that He had overcome all His enemies, even death.
This is the sign of Jonah. Jonah was in the fish three days and three nights; so the Son of Man must be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights. But out of death must come resurrection.
The resurrection of our Lord is considered the firstfruits of resurrection. The raising of Lazarus, strictly speaking, was not resurrection, because when Lazarus was raised from the dead, he still had a mortal body.
But when the Lord was raised from the dead, He had an immortal body, a new body. That is resurrection. He is now free from all bondage. He has overcome everything—the liberty of resurrection, the power of resurrection.
This is the greatest sign of all signs. Our Lord Jesus Himself has overcome death. Therefore, He can deliver us out of death. He has been raised from the dead; therefore, He is the resurrection.
We who have Him in us shall live, in spite of all kinds of deadening circumstances. Even though one day, if He should delay, our body may have to go through death, we shall be raised from the dead. This is the greatest of all signs.
Then the eighth sign is found in John 21. After His resurrection, you remember that some of the disciples were fishing.
They went out fishing because, after the Lord’s resurrection, He would suddenly appear and suddenly disappear. The disciples were never sure when they would see the Lord.
Peter, being a man of action, could not wait. He did not know when the Lord would appear. He became tired of waiting and said, “I go a fishing.” They had nothing to do but wait until the Lord appeared to them, but the Lord did not appear. So they said, “Let us go fishing.”
The disciples went fishing. They fished the whole night and caught nothing. Early in the morning, One stood on the shore and said, “Children, have ye aught to eat?” They said, “No.”
He said, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and ye shall find.” They cast it, and they caught one hundred fifty-three fishes.
Immediately, John said, “It is the Lord.” Not because he had cleaner eyes. Probably there was fog on the sea in the early morning, and they could not see the Lord. But John intuitively knew that it was the Lord.
When Peter heard that, he jumped into the water. They were about two hundred cubits from land, and he swam to shore. The other disciples pulled the net full of fish to shore.
There was already a fire there, bread there, and fish there. The Lord said, “Bring of the fish which ye have now taken.”
At that time, the Lord asked Peter, “Lovest thou Me?” Peter said, “Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee.” The Lord said, “Feed My lambs. Shepherd My sheep. Feed My sheep.”
In other words, what does this miracle of catching fish point to? It points to the fact that our Lord Jesus not only saves us, but sends us out to win souls for His kingdom.
But who can do that? Everything is based upon love. If we want to serve the Lord, there must be love toward the Lord first. God does not want any service that has no love behind it.
If we desire to serve the Lord, it should be the result of love. Because Peter said, “I love You,” the Lord said, “Feed My lambs. Shepherd My sheep. Feed My sheep.”
Here you find the glory of the Son of God. He is our Lord. He is the One who sends us out on His mission. If we love Him, we will be able to do whatever He wants us to do.
Not only are we to catch fish—that is, to win souls—but we are to feed His lambs and His sheep; that is, to help brothers and sisters in their growth. That is the eighth sign.
So, dear brothers and sisters, when you go through the Gospel according to John, you find that sign after sign points nearer and nearer to one point, and that point is the Son of God—the glory of the Son of God.
How our hearts must be attracted by sign after sign. How our hearts must be drawn to the Lord. As we behold His glory, and believe in Him, we will have His life.
In turn, He will lead many sons into glory. This is the Gospel according to John.